Cameron is now cruising

BY AARON LAWTON

STUNNED, shattered but – worst of all – with his pride in tatters, boxer Shane Cameron looked every bit a beaten man in October last year a few short minutes after climbing into the ring with his nemesis David Tua.

The bout inappropriately marketed as the Fight of the Century at Hamilton's Mystery Creek Events Centre was anything but that.

Despite months of brave talk, Cameron lasted all of 200 seconds in the ring before being knocked to kingdom come by a rejuvenated Tua.

Talk about adversity and it doesn't get much worse than being seriously beaten up in front of the entire nation.

For most, it would have been enough to see them hang up the gloves for good and seek out the quiet life somewhere away from the public spotlight.

But Cameron isn't like most people. Retire? In the words of a Tui billboard: Yeah, right.

Instead, the man known as The Mountain Warrior is back in the gym, working harder than ever and is just a couple of months away from completing a remarkable move to cruiserweight.

The step down from the heavyweight division means Cameron, now 96kg, has to shed another 6kg as he prepares for a possible cruiserweight world title fight against Aussie hard-hitter Danny Green, perhaps by the end of this year.

To the outsider looking in, the move seems like an admission Cameron couldn't cut it as a heavyweight – an admission his confidence was rocked by Tua or that he is simply on the hunt for one last pay day before retiring to his home town of Tiniroto.

But is it?

Know The Mountain Warrior, who in March tipped the scales at 105kg, and you might feel differently.

"It's a massive opportunity," Cameron says. "I'm in this business to do well and my goal is to fight for a title.

"The heavyweight title opportunity hasn't surfaced but a cruiserweight one has.

"I fought at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 at 88 kilos and I was knocking guys out at that size. So the drop down to cruiserweight shouldn't be too hard."

Ask Cameron to talk about that night against Tua and he lets out a little sigh.

He's tired of it, no doubt, but he's also aware the Tua loss will forever be his cross to bear.

"It didn't go my way in Hamilton so obviously it's not a subject I like to talk about," he says.

"That topic will stick around forever.

"But it's not something I've lost any sleep over. I've moved on.

"I don't regret taking that fight at all.

"I didn't take it just for the pay day. I took it because I thought I could win.

"As history shows, I didn't.

"I've still got a long way ahead of me. That's just a kink in my journey and it's made me a stronger person and a wiser fighter."

Speaking of journeys, regardless of what happened last October Cameron has already achieved more in his 32 years than perhaps he ever should have.

By all accounts, just getting in the ring to fight Tua was a victory in itself for him because, according to his brother Rob, the future heavyweight shouldn't have even lived to see his 18th birthday.

The story goes: As a 17-year-old, Cameron, competing in the now defunct wild cow milking segment of the Gisborne Rodeo, had what could only be deemed a lucky escape.

The "wild" cow in question, on being released from its pen, charged straight for Cameron.

It knocked him over and somehow the rope attached to it fastened around his neck, tightening with each second as he was dragged around the ring.

Cameron thought he was going to die and only his friend's courageous tackle on the cow saved him from that morbid fate.

"You should have seen the rope burn I had around my neck," Cameron says, laughing.

"Rob, what did we do that night?" he asks.

"We went to the pub, eh."

Indeed, the pub. Not the hospital – the pub.

But the fact is that behind the jokes about downing swappa crate Lion Reds after a near-death experience, the truth is this.

Once you've had an angry beast try to choke you to death being beaten up by David Tua doesn't really seem that bad.

Or, for that matter, what about banking a $500,000 purse for one fight? That's a fair bit of change in anyone's world.

But for a bloke who left school at 13 and earned $80 for his first pay cheque after roughly 90 days of straight work as a farmhand, it was a king's ransom.

So it makes sense then why Cameron was never going to quit after copping a volley of Tua punches to the face while the nation held its breath.

"I was gutted for Shane because I know what he'd gone through to get to where he was," brother Rob says.

"But we are Camerons. We get back on the horse. That's what we do."

While Rob is quite literally referring to a horse, the metaphoric horse for his brother these days is the boxing ring.

And as his manager Ken Reinsfield tells it, that's exactly what Cameron's done – he's got back on "the horse".

"The way Shane reacted after the Tua fight – well, I've never seen that before," Reinsfield says.

"I've never seen him train harder or hit the gym harder or, for that matter, seen him more determined than ever since that fight.

"He's just been f---ing amazing."

If the proposed Green fight does eventuate, Cameron's going to have to be just that.

Green is no slouch. In 32 fights, he's won 29 and his knockout record stands at an impressive 81.25%.

He also happens to be the IBO world cruiserweight champion.

But ever the eternal optimist, Cameron is adamant he has what it takes to floor the tough Aussie from Perth, who recently dispatched American boxing legend Roy Jones Junior.

"I see everyone I fight as beat- able," he says.

"I'm dropping all this weight and doing a lot of hard work, and it's not for nothing.

"I'm doing it because I know I can beat him."

Money, and a lot more than $80, is also a factor here.

Green is a massively marketable product and reportedly pocketed $A6 million for his fight against Jones Junior.

"What people need to understand is that this isn't called the boxing business for nothing," Reinsfield says.

"From a business point of view, it makes sense to take this fight.

"Realistically, a Cameron versus Danny Green fight would potentially be a bigger earner (than the Fight of the Century)."

So what, then, does the future hold for Cameron other than a potentially lucrative pay day against Green?

"Based on where I'm at, when I get to 35 or 36 that's probably a good age to call it a day," he says.

"But at the same time, I might just be hitting my stride then and I could be world champion.

"If I'm feeling good, I will keep going.

"I'm good, happy and relaxed. LG, mate – life's good."

Of course it is. When you've cheated death at 17, every day, as they say, has got to be a gift.

- © Fairfax NZ News